Heat distribution

Funny, but cast iron is praised and ridiculed for heat distribution. Some say it is amazing, others say it is horrible with major hot and cold spots. I just bought a lodge 15". Any recommendations on maintaining relatively consistent temperature?

Thanks,

Steve

Depends on how you want to use it. I would do as I do with larger heavier skillets and pre-heat in the oven to get the entire thing up to a reasonably hot temp. Then put it out on a burner to maintain, maybe across two for a very large skillet if your setup allows.

CI maintains an evenness of temperature once hot, relative to other more-conductive metals, meaning it takes a long time to get completely hot and a long time to cool down; it stores heat better. But heat applied to one part will not "spread" evenly to the rest of the pan.

Cast iron is really bad at heat distribution. A large skillet on a single centered heat source like a burner will definitely have temperature regions. Cast iron is very good at heat retention (once heated, it stays hot), which is different thing than heat distribution.

I know some people preheat the skillet in the oven, so the whole thing is ready to go when you transfer it to the burner. This makes more sense if you already have the oven going for something else...would be a pretty big energy waste on its own.

On the other hand, I tend to accept and work with the hot and cold regions...it's similar to how I grill. If some of what I'm cooking is getting more done in the center of the skillet, I'll move it towards the edges and move other less done stuff in toward the middle, etc, etc.

I find a #8 cast iron trivet out of a Dutch oven (that I use for this purpose only) on a large gas burner as a diffuser works extremely well for even temperatures for my 14SK.

Rather than heating up the oven, I use patience on simmer and low. Forget seasoning the trivet as the heat burns it off and rust will coat the iron. When cool, it is put away as is until next time.

The whole skillet still will not be one even temperature, but close if given enough time. This skillet is not for searing 4 T-bones at once on a stove unless preheated to 450° F in the oven.

Hilditch

Thanks all. I am self taught, so not a lot of direction.

I first bought a few CI skillets 6 months ago. After cooking with a 12" skillet, I found temperature consistency to be HORRIBLE. There were temperature variations of up to 30%.

An experienced cook told me I had to warm it up first. She said oil it and let it slowly come to temp for about 10 minutes until the oil begins to smoke, then reduce heat and cook. This would also keep the pan seasoned. I followed the advice in my 12" and The results were amazing.

Of course a 15" pan is substantially larger, we will see I guess.

When oil is heated to its respected smoke point it in fact burns it. It will impart a bad taste.

I use a 10 inch by 10 inch piece of 1/4 plate steel under my #14 I preheat it on my cooker then place the pan on top . That's just what works for me. Just saying

A buddy of mine cooks on and heats his boat with a wood stove. He showed this thing(I didn't get a real close look at it) that is supposed to dissipate heat for cast iron cooking. It is around 7" or 8" round steel "pan", about 1/4" deep. The idea is to put it on the heat, lip down, in order to try and keep heat inside longer, and cook on it(of course). It seemed to do the trick. They cook Grands biscuits in a skillet with a lid, flipping them halfway through. Before,they used soapstone slabs to dissipate heat, but usually scorched the biscuits a little. But not with this steel thing. I'll try and get more info on it.

Stan D said:

A buddy of mine cooks on and heats his boat with a wood stove. He showed this thing(I didn't get a real close look at it) that is supposed to dissipate heat for cast iron cooking. It is around 7" or 8" round steel "pan", about 1/4" deep. The idea is to put it on the heat, lip down, in order to try and keep heat inside longer, and cook on it(of course). It seemed to do the trick. They cook Grands biscuits in a skillet with a lid, flipping them halfway through. Before,they used soapstone slabs to dissipate heat, but usually scorched the biscuits a little. But not with this steel thing. I'll try and get more info on it.

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Interesting. I imagine if their is enough room for a little air it will more evenly heat the piece underneath, thus evenly heating the pan. I'm no rocket scientist though.

I think the idea is that the inverted "pan" captures the heat, and the steel provides a more even dissipation (as opposed to cast iron).

I have a number 11 Erie that I use on a regular basis, I preheat it by flipping it upside down on the burner. It is far bigger than the burner itself so no part of it actually touches the coil but the whole skillet gets hot, when it is heated flip it over again and cook as usual. I did this at first just as a way of putting a fresh skillet on an already hot coil but I found that it also cooked more evenly.

W. Hilditch said:

I find a #8 cast iron trivet out of a Dutch oven (that I use for this purpose only) on a large gas burner as a diffuser works extremely well for even temperatures for my 14SK.

Hilditch

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For the while I wondered why I would find so many DO trivets that were warped or cracked, then an flea market vendor tried to tell me that one he was selling was a heat diffuser to go under a pan. Now it's easy to see how they get destroyed by the heat!
It's reassuring to hear that someone who knows what a trivet actually is is using one for this purpose and is patient enough to avoid destroying it in the process!

Thank you. I will admit that my first experiment many years ago with the trivet produced a 2” crack that stopped at a hole. This Lodge trivet - $10 at Amazon - didn’t like a shot of high heat. All has been fine since then; and my Griswold trivet stays IN my Lodge DO. What?

Hilditch

PS: I'm not so sure it is as much patience as timing. If one turns on the stove at simmer first and then does prep work the pan may get too hot too fast. I seldom have been accused of being a patient person.